Making It Mine

by Elizabeth Van Allen 

for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

Personalizing My Yoga Bag

I like to personalize my stuff.  I don't know if it's just an artist thing, but I don't like looking the same as everyone else.  This summer when I stayed in Disney World I needed a way to mark a few towels as mine so that they wouldn't get gathered up by housekeeping with the rest of the linens.  I know it sounds funny, but I bring my own face towel when I travel because my skin won't tolerate the bleach hotels use.  When it comes to personalizing towels, patches and painting were both out as options.  What I needed was something that would hold up well with frequent washing and drying.

Embroidered Face Towel 

Being a glutton for punishment, I decided to delve into the world of embroidery.  To give you a little background on my grand plans in needlework, I started really experimenting with sewing in high school. I decided one day that I wanted to make a dress with a fitted bodice and a strip-work, ankle length skirt.  I hadn't made much past simple pillows, but I'd watched my mother make clothing, curtains and quilted stuff tons of times.  How hard could it be?  Mom got pretty worried when I confidently stated my intent, but she patiently walked me through it and I wore my dress for years.  In that same tradition, I decided that one of my first embroidery projects would be a multi-hued purple lotus flower that looked the same on both sides of a face towel.  If you've ever see the back of a piece of embroidery or needlepoint, you know that is not exactly the status quo.  

Embroidered Yoga Towel

My Yoga Bag and Towel

I added a multi-colored running stitch
 at the seams to brighten up my gym bag

I did some research and finally got it right.  I successfully embroidered the same lotus on my face and yoga towels and figured out first hand why an embroidery hoop can be a very useful tool.  



My next challenge: my gym and yoga mat bags.  I think I nailed it! 

How have you personalized some of your favorite things?